Passionate Perseverance: pretty, happy, funny, real...

@Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

Miss Courtney and her buck teeth...wearing her new Christmas
sweater that Daddy picked out to match her blue eyes.

{happy}

Two of the most precious gifts I have ever received from God...
they make my Mama heart sing.

How do you make an almost 47 year old man break out in 10 year old
glee on Christmas morning??
You surprise him with something he never expected...Legos for DAD!
I knew last summer that I would be doing this. Every time we went
into the Lego store shopping for a nephew or Godchild birthday,
Jerry would pick this box up and read and smile and would often say
"Man to be ten again."
SCORE!!
Of course he will need the assistance of a seven year old to build it.
Noahman we need you!!

{funny}

Check out Miss Courtney's best "Seriously Dad...can you be any slower" look.
I love her facial expressions. They always make me laugh.

{real}

For the first time in a year, Jerry actually had a week off between Christmas
and New Years. There was a list of home projects that have been waiting for
a time when we could work together, along with #1 son. So this past week
we removed the 30 year
old carpet, (yes you read that right, 30 years old! Ick)
from both downstairs bedrooms.
What we found beneath makes me want to rip it out of the entire house right now.
Just awful yuckiness...

Miss Courtney's hospital bed is in, the dresser to the right was bought on
Craigs list along with two other pieces this Fall. I will be repainting in the Spring.
I can't wait! The blue things are her adult diapers that I needed
to find a creative storage space for. Just one of the challenges in
a special needs young adult room.

This is how it looks this morning. The quilt on the wall was made for her
by her Great Grandmother Hunter and her Grandmother Lenaburg.
In the new room configuration, her lift is by the window to easily use in
lifting her between rooms, saving Mom and dad'd backs, her wheelchair is to
the left against the wall, and her stander is set up next to the bed (not in picture).
This Spring we will paint the walls and I will be sewing a bed skirt for the bed
(so we don't see the diapers) as well as figuring out how to cover the side rails so
she doesn't bruise her hands when she whacks them.
A creative challenge indeed!

I think she's happy with it...

The great news on this little reno was that we spent under $100 and that was because hubby needed a new tool box and a crow bar. Everything else we had in the house. In the Spring we will paint and decide what we want to do for the floors. The original clay tiles are not the prettiest thing going but they will do for now.

What are your thoughts? Are hard wood floors worth the cost? Is there something we can do ourselves? Should we just re-carpet? So many choices for the color scheme as well. She has a lot of pink that people have given/made for her and I want to keep it...so I need a wall color that coordinates that isn't green.

Thoughts??